As part of a new advertising campaign, Discovery Communications is fitting bus stops throughout the Big Apple with HD monitors in an attempt to enhance its HD image. While the media firm has used so-called "street furniture" before (notably at phone kiosks) to help brand its various networks by using still shots of prehistoric creatures and other content from its programs, HD video is the next step: Those dinosaurs will now be moving.
Omnicom's PHD, Discovery's ad agency, along with outdoor ad vendor Cemusa, are working jointly on what appears to be the first U.S. test of HD screens and Bluetooth technology to showcase ads in outdoor venues, according to Adweek.
The first display went up last week at a bus stop outside Grand Central Terminal. Plans call for an additional nine screens to be set up in February at high foot-traffic points such as Times Square, Penn Station and the Port Authority, among other locales. Cemusa said elaborate tests were conducted to ensure that HD screens would continue to deliver quality signals during such weather elements as extreme temperatures, high humidity and thunderstorms.
For security, the monitors are sealed between plates of batter- and bullet-proof plastic. (But just in case, the screens are also wired with security alarms and GPS tracking devices.)
